Witch to continue her spell on school logo

July 3, 2008

Updated: Tuesday, June 8, 2010 (09:11)

THE Warboys Witch will continue her spell as a school logo after parents and pupils used their own powers to save a piece of Huntingdonshire history. Although the witch will now have to share the logo with other images, the witch on a broomstick will rema

THE Warboys Witch will continue her spell as a school logo after parents and pupils used their own powers to save a piece of Huntingdonshire history.

Although the witch will now have to share the logo with other images, the witch on a broomstick will remain on the uniform of Warboys Primary School pupils.

The school had planned to drop the witch from its logo and stationary, ending a 60-year association with emblem. Governors said the logo put some teachers off joining the staff.

But the plan angered villagers who felt the school should not turn its back on history - Warboys was the last place in England where witches were hanged in 1593.

After three months of hocus-pocus, a 1,000-signature petition declaring Don't Ditch the Witch, national media coverage and increased sales of witch car stickers, pupils voted to keep her.

The vote for the logo, which was inspired by students' own designs and includes a tree, a book and the village clock tower, took place on Monday.

While many are happy that the school has retained the witch, not everyone is pleased with the process.

Jenny Groom, mother of a nine-year-old at the school, told The Hunts Post: "I think it is a bit of a cheek getting the children to vote for the logo when it is the parents who have to pay for the uniform.

"This is a decision which should have been made as a family without the teachers being able to divert the children away from choosing the witch.

"Parents have been joking to their children 'I'll give you a fiver if you choose the witch' because the parents want the witch but the children felt they should be choosing one of the other options.

"My daughter has said she wasn't supposed to choose the witch."

However, a mother of two, who did not wish to be named, told The Hunts Post: "It's a fair choice. I think it is a victory for the protest."

The new logo, which was one of three, will retain the same colours as the outgoing emblem - green and yellow.

Headteacher Martin Kelsey said: "The logo reflects everything associated with Warboys and the primary school. It was developed by the pupils and it was the pupils who chose the final version."

He added: "Pupils did their own research and drafted some initial designs for the school council to consider. The council then decided on their favourites, which in turn were shared with a professional designer who produced final logos."

The other two options were the witch as seen on the top of the village clock tower, or the clock tower without the witch.

Alice and John Samuels and their daughter Agnes were the last witches to be hanged in England.